Himalaya healthcare products hit Thai shelves

"The company held discussions for six months with several local partners before settling down with Berli Jucker, which has experience in the marketing and distribution of imported products," Vineet Jain, manager for personal-care marketing at The Himalaya Drug, said yesterday.

The Himalaya Drug is also planning to set up a plant here in three to five years when its sales reach US$10 million (Bt300 million) to capitalise on the seamless market under the Asean Economic Community, which will take effect in 2015.

The company will use Thailand as a test market in the first phase before making the country its manufacturing hub in the region.

"Thailand is one of the fastest-growing healthcare-product markets in the region," he said.

The company exports personal-care and pharmaceutical products from India to elsewhere in Asia, the Middle East, North America and Europe.

With its own factory, the company will be able to distribute its Thai-made products duty-free under the free-trade agreement among Southeast Asia countries including Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Cambodia and Indonesia.

The company is also talking with local partners in Taiwan, Macau, South Korea and Japan for further exports, Jain said.

Sarinya Phinchongsakuldit, Berli Jucker's associate director for consumer marketing, said the cosmetics business was enjoying annual growth of 10-15 per cent as consumers became more health-conscious, so there was still room for new players to enter the market.

Berli Jucker has focused on expanding its cosmetics portfolio this year with Himalaya Herbal products targeting customers aged 21-35, she said.

Himalaya Herbal comes in four lines - face wash, facial treatment, skincare and hair care.

This expansion came after the debut late last year of its first house brand, Berli Pops, for customers aged 15-25.

The company expects cosmetics to contribute one-fifth of its total revenue from consumer products in five years, Sarinya said.

In a separate interview, Naomi Mikami, managing director of Pola Cosmetics (Thailand), said the direct-sales company from Japan expected to see 20-per-cent growth in its sales to Bt310 million this year from Bt250 million last year.

Pola Cosmetics is also planning to penetrate the provinces with 1,000 direct-sales members within five years, up from 350 members now, of whom 90 per cent are based in Bangkok.

Under the five-year plan, the company expects to achieve Bt700 million in revenue and to expand its cosmetics counters throughout the country.